This invention is concerned with containers, bins, and hopper bins for use with bulk materials such as liquids, and powders like abrasives, sugar, Chicklet chewing gum, and so on. Such containers are rather large, with one such bin being about 45 inches high, 39 inches wide, and 40 inches deep.
Conventional hopper bins are made of galvanized metal, and once the galvanizing wears off, the bins start to rust and deteriorate. Also, such galvanized metal bins are easily dented. The dents can be fixed, but fixing them is a rather expensive proposition. Moreover, metal and galvanized metal bins are undesirable in some applications such as in handling food or other contents which may be contaminated by the metal.
There has existed a demand or a need for bins and hopper bins made of plastic. However, conventional plastic bins include legs that retain a portion of the powder contents and are hard to clean. I have tried a flat false bottom welded near the bottom of a plastic bin, but false bottoms when made of polyethylene, for example, are not easily welded to the sidewalls of the bin, and any holes in the weld permit contents to enter the space below the false bottom and prevent cleaning.
Instead of a false bottom, I have tried to fill the hollow legs of a polyethylene bin with polyethylene or urethane so as to eliminate the problem of cleaning out the legs, but this has also proved unsatisfactory.
I have also tried a removable false bottom in a polyethylene bin to cover the hollow legs of the bin, but customers objected because removing the false bottom for cleaning the legs was time consuming and otherwise undesirable.
There is a considerable demand for a bin and a hopper bin having a smooth bottom, without cracks and without holes, that is easily cleaned, and that has no metal on the inside of the bin that might contaminate its contents.